The invention relates to a method and apparatus for a hanger bracket, and more particularly to a method for installing and supporting suspended equipment with the hanger bracket.
The overhead suspension of heavy equipment presents problems both in the installation of such equipment and in the continued safe support of the suspended equipment. Heavy equipment is often suspended from the underside of roofs or similar overhead structures in buildings or facilities, such as warehouses, auditoriums, garages and aircraft hangers. The function of this overhead equipment may be for such purposes as exhaust, ventilation, heating, cooling, electrical, or lighting, to name a few.
The installation of heavy overhead equipment is conventionally performed with the aid of hydraulic lifts or cranes that hoist the equipment to its installed location at the required height above the floor surface. Skilled construction technicians employ conventional hangers, bolts or straps to connect elements of the equipment to the supportive structure of the building or facility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,039 to Schaffer, shows an L-shaped, equipment supportive hanger bracket that attaches to a rod, which is suspended from a concrete ceiling structure. The bracket of Schaffer ""039 requires a tight, friction connection between a series of U-bolts and an L-shaped bracket to grip the suspended rod. If the equipment load, borne by the L-shaped bracket, is heavy enough to overcome the gripping power of the U-bolts, the L-shaped bracket can slip off of the rod, and the equipment will fall. A hanger bracket is needed that provides an intrinsically safe means for hanging heavy equipment from a ceiling or roof structure.
Again, in regards to Schaffer ""039, the supported equipment, shown as pipes or conduit, must be installed after the installation of the hanger bracket and U-bolts. When the equipment is placed on or attach to the hanger, this operation is conventionally performed at the final height of the equipment. Work performed well above the floor, up against the roof structure, requires a high level of safety-related precaution and so is performed slowly and at some risk. It would therefore, be desirable to reduce the difficulties and risk associated with the installation of elevated or overhead equipment by somehow performing some of the installation operation at floor level.
The present invention provides a hanger bracket for supporting suspended equipment from a support rail. The hanger bracket includes a rail cap adjoined to a side bar. The side bar adjoins to the rail cap to form a substantially inverted xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shape. The rail cap also includes a lip that is substantially parallel to the sidebar. The lip adjoins to the rail cap at an opposite end of the rail cap from the sidebar. The hanger bracket, with the sidebar, the rail cap and the lip, has substantially an inverted xe2x80x9cJxe2x80x9d shape.
Specifically, the rail cap includes a first cap end and a second cap end, and the side bar has a top sidebar end and a bottom sidebar end. The first cap end adjoins with the side bar at the top sidebar end. The lip adjoins to the rail cap proximate the second end of the rail cap, the lip being substantially parallel to and substantially co-directional with the side bar.
The sidebar of the hanger bracket mounts onto an element of the suspended equipment, so that the rail cap rests on a top surface of the support rail. The rail cap further includes a cap face. The lip and the sidebar extend from the cap face, and the cap face can rest on the top surface of the support rail. The side bar and the rail cap can comprise a contiguous piece of a metal material. Most preferably, a plurality of hanger brackets support the equipment element on the support rail. The equipment element has a length, along which each one of the plurality of hangers are positioned.
The rail cap of the hanger is load bearing in that it bears the weight or load of the equipment element upon the support rail. The side bar of the hanger mounts onto the equipment element, and the rail cap is able to rest on the top surface of a support rail.
The method of the present invention includes installing overhead equipment with the hanger bracket. The hanger bracket is first mounted to the equipment element of the overhead equipment. The equipment element is then lifted to raise the rail cap above a support rail. The equipment element is then shifted, to position the rail cap over the support rail. When the equipment element is in position with the rail cap over the support rail, the equipment element is lowered to contact the rail cap with the top surface of the support rail.
Additionally, the method of the invention can include sliding the hanger bracket along the support rail to reposition the equipment element. The equipment element can be first positioned at a point along the support rail where it is most easily raised or lifted onto the support rail, and then moved by sliding, which can be either through pulling or pushing the equipment element to a final position on the support rail.
The present invention provides a hanger bracket that provides an intrinsically safe means for hanging heavy equipment from a ceiling or roof structure. The hanger bracket of the present invention utilizes the weight of the suspended equipment element to supplement the holding force of the hanger bracket.
Additionally, the hanger bracket of the of the present invention reduces the difficulties and risks associated with the installation of elevated or overhead equipment. The structural features of the hanger bracket of the present invention provides for the performance of several installation operation steps at the floor level. In the preferred method of the present invention, the hanger bracket is attached to the equipment element while the equipment is at floor level. The equipment element is then lifted to the final position with a minimum of further installation related operations performed at a high elevation off the floor.
The invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.